Trent Lott's Moment

Each word and action is brimming with power. The trick is aiming in the right direction.

Trent Lott spent his entire adult life crafting a political career. Starting as a 27-year-old congressional aid, he was elected to Congress in 1972, and rose to the position of Republican party whip. In 1988 he became a U.S. Senator and steadily climbed through the ranks.

Through it all, Lott carefully measured every action and word, striving toward his ultimate goal of political power.

The big pay-off came in November 2002, when Republicans gained control of the Senate, and Lott was slated to become Senate Majority Leader – the most influential man on Capitol Hill.

Instead, two weeks before his leadership post was to have taken effect, Lott has announced that he is stepping down.

How did this carefully crafted 30-year dream go up in smoke?

With one errant comment.

In one errant moment, a lifetime of effort came tumbling down.

Though Trent Lott had misstepped in the past, he was always able to finesse them away. But this time, when he uttered a few words of praise for the old South segregationist policies, it wiped out a lifetime of effort: countless campaign appearances, parlor meetings, and backroom deals, where every word was precisely calculated, and every deed designed for maximum impact.

In that moment, it all came tumbling down.

In reality, such an extreme turnaround could happen to any one of us. Maimonides writes that each person should see life as hanging in the balance, where each small move can make a world of difference.

Indeed, I could invest years forging trust in my marriage. But one bad slip of the tongue, or one careless judgment, could wipe out everything.

I could devote years to building up my business, but one false move could destroy it all.

Turn it Around

The good news is that this cuts both ways. One word, one deed, can similarly transform a lifetime of mistakes into true greatness.

The Talmud tells of a man who had an incorrigible vice. One time he heard about a special opportunity to feed his habit. So he traveled across the world, and upon arrival, paid an exorbitant sum of money as an entrance fee.

Once inside, he saw a large ladder ascending to the object of his desire. He began to climb the ladder, and when he'd almost reached the top, he stumbled and fell.

There are those who acquire their entire world in one moment.

As he sat on the ground, bruised and disheveled, he put his head in his hands and began to cry. He thought about all those years of wasted time and energy, chasing futility.

He cried and cried... and then he died. At that moment a voice rang out from heaven, saying: "This man has attained the highest level of righteousness."

This one act of sincere regret outweighed an entire lifetime of negativity. As the Talmud says: "There are those who acquire their entire world in one moment." Imagine the opportunity. We work hard, expending time and energy to move our lives forward. Yet sometimes a person can wake up in the morning and find that their life has been going in the wrong direction. They feel helpless and overwhelmed. How will they crawl out of this abyss?

With one word, one deed, we can turn it all around.

The Passover Haggadah speaks of the Four Sons: wise, evil, simple, and the one who doesn't know how to ask. The commentators explain that these sons are listed in the order of their greatness. We can understand why the wise son is listed first. But why is the evil son listed second? Shouldn't he be last?

If the wicked son turns around 180 degrees, he'll be as great as the wise son.

The answer is that in terms of drive and energy, the evil son ranks high. He is just directing his efforts in a negative direction. If he can turn around 180 degrees, he'll be as great as the wise son.

We are all standing on a ledge where life can go in two directions. Every slight move is ripe with dramatic, eternal consequences.

We must choose carefully.

Maimonides goes one step further: We should imagine the entire world as hanging in the balance, where any single action I make can tip the balance and bring the world to perfection.

As Trent Lott learned, our relationships, career, and life itself is fragile and tenuous. Yes, the consequence of failure is great. But the reward of success, the Talmud tells us, is 500-fold. Our life is brimming with responsibility. Let's embrace it.

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About the Author

Rabbi Shraga Simmons grew up trekking through snow in Buffalo, New York, enjoying summers as a tour guide at Niagara Falls. He holds a degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin, and rabbinic ordination from the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. He is the co-founder of Aish.com, and founder of the Torah study site, JewishPathways.com. He is also the co-founder of HonestReporting.com, and author of "David & Goliath", the definitive treatment of media bias against Israel (2012). He lives with his wife and children in the Modi'in region of Israel.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 7

(7)
David S. Levine,
January 11, 2011 9:55 PM

A Bad Outcome

This was one of the worst moments in America's political history. For throwing a rose to a 100 year old man who regrets much of what he did in his life Trent Lott had to be thrown to the wolves and his replacement was some ineffective country club doctor who accomplished NOTHING during his Majority leadership. And is was done at the instigation of the anti-Semite Jesse Jackson, a symbol of today's Democ-rat party. it's sickening.

(6)
Anonymous,
December 30, 2002 12:00 AM

Thank you Rabbi for a timely and hopeful message.

Centuries later, Maimonedes still speaks to us. Your presentation is elegant and instructive. I am truly grateful for this teaching.

(5)
David Z.,
December 25, 2002 12:00 AM

He got what he deserved.

Judging by his voting record over the years on African-American issues,he got what he deserved. His true colors came out with Thurmond party.

(4)
Efraim Lujna,
December 23, 2002 12:00 AM

Excellent

I am always blessed by the wisdom that I read in Aish. This article is a reminder of how fragile life is and the responsibility given to us. Thanks.

(3)
Anonymous,
December 23, 2002 12:00 AM

Lott's words were representative of his life

Thank you for this excellent article about how one slip can undo years of hard work.

Surely Trent Lott would not have been in danger of throwing away his political career by praising Strom Thurmond's 1948 segregationist presidential bid, though, if these statements were not reflective of his true feelings. Rather than cultivating greatness and then losing it because of one slip of the tongue, any politician who praises segregationist policies has cultivated an unfair, prejudiced world-view. Lott's voting record reflect his anti-Black bias, and his words were a part of that. (In fact, it's interesting that his slip wasn't even covered right away, because most reporters weren't surprised by them!)

Maybe a correlary to this article could be that if you cultivate righteous sentiments in your heart, you won't be in danger of accidentaly saying something you'd be ashamed of.

(2)
Jane LaLone,
December 23, 2002 12:00 AM

Thank you for another excellent article.

Pertinent not only to Trent Lott, but to our daily lives that seem so humdrum until one little thing turns everything upside down. Thank you for pointing out that is also never too late to turn it all around and make our life hold really deep meaning.

I've been striving to get more into spirituality. But it seems that every time I make some progress, I find myself slipping right back to where I started. I'm getting discouraged and feel like a failure. Can you help?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Spiritual slumps are a natural part of spiritual growth. There is a cycle that people go through when at times they feel closer to God and at times more distant. In the words of the Kabbalists, it is "two steps forward and one step back." So although you feel you are slipping, know that this is a natural process. The main thing is to look at your overall progress (over months or years) and be able to see how far you've come!

This is actually God's ingenious way of motivating us further. The sages compare this to teaching a baby how to walk. When the parent is holding on, the baby shrieks with delight and is under the illusion that he knows how to walk. Yet suddenly, when the parent lets go, the child panics, wobbles and may even fall.

At such times when we feel spiritually "down," that is often because God is letting go, giving us the great gift of independence. In some ways, these are the times when we can actually grow the most. For if we can move ourselves just a little bit forward, we truly acquire a level of sanctity that is ours forever.

Here is a practical tool to help pull you out of the doldrums. The Sefer HaChinuch speaks about a great principle in spiritual growth: "The external awakens the internal." This means that although we may not experience immediate feelings of closeness to God, eventually, by continuing to conduct ourselves in such a manner, this physical behavior will have an impact on our spiritual selves and will help us succeed. (A similar idea is discussed by psychologists who say: "Smile and you will feel happy.")

That is the power of Torah commandments. Even if we may not feel like giving charity or praying at this particular moment, by having a "mitzvah" obligation to do so, we are in a framework to become inspired. At that point we can infuse that act of charity or prayer with all the meaning and lift it can provide. But if we'd wait until being inspired, we might be waiting a very long time.

May the Almighty bless you with the clarity to see your progress, and may you do so with joy.

In 1940, a boatload 1,600 Jewish immigrants fleeing Hitler's ovens was denied entry into the port of Haifa; the British deported them to the island of Mauritius. At the time, the British had acceded to Arab demands and restricted Jewish immigration into Palestine. The urgent plight of European Jewry generated an "illegal" immigration movement, but the British were vigilant in denying entry. Some ships, such as the Struma, sunk and their hundreds of passengers killed.

If you seize too much, you are left with nothing. If you take less, you may retain it (Rosh Hashanah 4b).

Sometimes our appetites are insatiable; more accurately, we act as though they were insatiable. The Midrash states that a person may never be satisfied. "If he has one hundred, he wants two hundred. If he gets two hundred, he wants four hundred" (Koheles Rabbah 1:34). How often have we seen people whose insatiable desire for material wealth resulted in their losing everything, much like the gambler whose constant urge to win results in total loss.

People's bodies are finite, and their actual needs are limited. The endless pursuit for more wealth than they can use is nothing more than an elusive belief that they can live forever (Psalms 49:10).

The one part of us which is indeed infinite is our neshamah (soul), which, being of Divine origin, can crave and achieve infinity and eternity, and such craving is characteristic of spiritual growth.

How strange that we tend to give the body much more than it can possibly handle, and the neshamah so much less than it needs!